Battered Not Broken Read online

  When he took half a step backward, still holding her but allowing some space to separate their bodies, she took full advantage of it.

  After one last caress, she reached above and unbuttoned his jeans. The noise of his zipper parting as she pulled it down was even more thrilling than the sound of him undoing hers had been. The teeth of his zipper rubbed the side of her palm as her fingertips brushed the cotton of his boxer briefs. The thin cover did little to hide the promising hardness beneath. Tucking her fingers beneath the waistband, she reached for him.

  He moaned as her fingers met the smooth, rounded head of his cock. The sound was infectious, tantalizing – she wanted to hear it again, wanted to feel his breath rush unsteadily against the side of her neck like it just had.

  Sliding her hand lower, she grasped his shaft, reveling in the sheer pleasure of feeling it so hard against her palm before she shoved her hand to the base, causing his underwear to slide down.

  With the steely-blue cotton barely clinging to his hips, she was granted a partial view of his cock – the blunt tip and half the thick shaft. The sight of it combined with the feeling of him throbbing in her hand was quickly causing the satisfaction he’d given her to fade, giving life to the yearning she’d experienced before he’d brought her to release.

  He flexed his hips, sending his shaft sliding deeper through her fist, until his balls met the edge of her palm.

  Taking his cue, she slid her hand up and down his cock, letting the resulting friction warm her fingers as her internal body temperature seemed to rise, too.

  For several moments, he rocked his hips in time with her stroking, his breath hot and heavy against her neck as he continued to thrill her with the press of his lips and scrape of his teeth.

  Then he pulled away, straightening and laying a hand over the one she’d wrapped around his cock. “Not here,” he said, prying her fingers away one by one. “Don’t want our first time to be on the kitchen counter.”

  She dropped her gaze down to where he was staring, his fingers tangled with hers. The flushed head of his cock was mere inches from her pussy. One thrust and he could bury it inside her.

  “Maybe the second time,” he half growled as he lifted her from the counter. “Not the first.”

  Her feet hit the cool tile as he lowered her, his breathing still rough – almost as rough as when he finished a match, from what she remembered.

  He loosened his embrace but left one arm around her as he took a step forward, toward the only door in his apartment she hadn’t opened – the one that led to his bedroom.

  Her heart beat harder with every footstep as she followed him. She was vaguely aware that what she was doing was a rarity, to say the least. But then, so was just about everything between her and Ryan so far, from the shockingly strong attraction that tugged at her heart and her libido every time she looked at him to the crazy night they’d passed together. There were the superficial layers of physical attraction, and then there was the thrill of novelty, the passion and the desire for a deeper connection that burnt deep inside her. It all combined to send a thin trail of moisture slipping down the inside of one thigh as he led her.

  His bedroom was as minimally furnished as the rest of the place. There was a full-sized mattress on a frame with no headboard, a dresser and a curtain hanging over the single window. Her gaze was irresistibly drawn to the bed as they stepped over the threshold together.

  Ryan surprised her by gripping her shoulders and turning her, taking her mouth in a deep but brief kiss before relenting and kicking off his jeans and boxer briefs.

  The sight of his fully nude body sent bolts of mixed appreciation and awe zinging through her consciousness. Technically, he was at least half-naked at the gym every day in his workout shorts. But their absence seemed to reveal more than she’d anticipated. Everything was as muscled and toned as she’d expected, from his thighs to his hips to the curve of one buttock she could just barely see. The only surprise was a long scar that ran from his left hip to mid-way down his thigh.

  Or a series of scars, really – winding and erratic, as if his thigh had once been sliced open by an array of oddly-shaped sharp objects. In places, the trail of scar tissue was thin, and in others, maybe two inches thick. But she didn’t have the time or the will to study it further, not when he was moving toward her, an arm outstretched.

  He embraced her, releasing a long sigh into her hair.

  Being pressed against his naked body felt so good that she hardly felt ridiculous, even though she was nude from the waist down but still wearing her long-sleeved t-shirt and bra.

  He quickly put an end to her half-dressed state, pulling her shirt over her head and unhooking the clasp of her bra, removing it too.

  Her breasts were full, perhaps the most generous curves of her entire body. In the past, she’d viewed that fact mostly as an inconvenience that made shopping for a good and affordable sports bra seem more like a mystical quest for the Holy Grail.

  But as Ryan’s gaze settled on her chest, blazing trails of heat over her tear-drop contours and causing her nipples to tingle and tighten, she didn’t regret her size or shape at all. There was a definite light in his eyes, one that confirmed what she already knew – when he’d stared hungrily in her and Melissa’s direction during his first day at Knockout, he’d been looking at her and her alone.

  When he settled his hands on her bare breasts for the first time, his touch sent heat sweeping through her entire body. Cupping and kneading, he explored them as if familiarizing himself with their curves, occasionally sweeping a thumb over her puckered nipples.

  “Come to bed with me,” he spoke into her ear, his voice a paradox of mingled softness and roughness. “I want to taste you.”

  She quivered internally at the thought of his tongue against her pussy. Could she take another round of that? It had felt so good, she wasn’t sure if she could handle something so exquisitely sensational again just yet.

  But that wasn’t what he’d meant. As they sank onto the edge of the bed together, he cupped one of her breasts and lowered his head, trailing his lips over the upper swell before closing his mouth around her nipple.

  The caress of his tongue, the light press of his teeth and the warm suction he created with his mouth – it all felt too good. She exhaled slowly in an attempt to decompress and buried a hand in his hair.

  The curve of his skull was smooth and hard beneath her palm, his hair short but surprisingly soft between her fingers. She let them curl a little, gaining traction against his scalp, until a sharp pang of guilt reminded her of his wound. “S-sorry,” she breathed, relenting as he drew her nipple deep into his mouth.

  He was silent for a few moments, sucking, teasing, and then he raised his head. “It’s all right.”

  Still, she let her hand rest on his shoulder instead, anchoring her nails in his muscle as he kissed his way over the curve of her other breast, eventually settling his parted lips over her rock-hard bud of a nipple.

  By the time he finished and raised his head again, there was an ache deep in her core, so severe that it made her quiver.

  She’d never trembled in any man’s arms before – at least, not from anticipation. But he reduced her to that state easily. His every touch, look and even his breathing were to blame – or rather thank. Shivering inside the firm shelter of his arms and knowing the best was yet to come felt amazing.

  “Come here, Ally.” He drew her closer – closer than originally had seemed possible, and fell back onto the bed with her, their limbs tangling.

  On their sides, facing each other, they kissed, pressing already swollen lips together. The flavor of her pussy was on his lips, his tongue and his teeth. It sent a thrill through her, reminding her of the way he’d eaten her, like he’d been thinking about doing so long before the actual act and had been starving for a taste of her. They continued until the tip of his cock brushed her bare mound, sending such a violent frisson down her spine that their lips actually parted.

&n
bsp; That was for the best, because suddenly, the time for foreplay was over. It was obvious that the same thought had occurred to him – a fierce gleam shone in his blue eyes when they met her brown ones. He rose from the bed, untangling his limbs from hers with a growl of a moan.

  As he strode toward the dresser, she was treated to a full, unobstructed view of the back of his body for the first time.

  The black ink that formed so many intricate knots and declared him always faithful faded into unmarked skin at his lower back, about an inch or so below where the waistband of his jeans usually rode. Below that, his ass flexed as he moved, muscled but not too muscled, begging to be touched.

  He pulled a drawer open and quickly began rooting through it, sending a couple t-shirts falling to the floor in the process. The sound of tearing cardboard met her ears – a box being opened. When he paused, he turned without bothering to pick them up or close the drawer, a small foil square caught between his fingers.

  Ally’s heart skipped a beat when he tore it open and pulled a condom from the inside, meeting her eyes briefly before diverting his attention to his hardened dick.

  Every fiber of her being seemed to melt as he pinched the tip of the condom and rolled the transparent sleeve down over his shaft, stroking its sides with his own fingers. The sight of the latex hugging his cock emphasized its thickness and the straight-as-an-arrow length of it. It was easy to imagine her pussy sheathing it and shrinking to embrace it just as tightly.

  When he approached her she rose, settling into a kneeling position on top of the comforter.

  He lowered himself onto the bed, reached for her and embraced her, pulling her against his chest and letting her feel his wrapped cock throb against her hip as he planted a sensual kiss against her lips, biting the lower one lightly before he released her.

  She swallowed a sudden knot that had formed in her throat, steeling herself for the only request she could imagine she’d need to make. “I’d like to be on top.” A part of her suspected that sex with him would be amazing any way they chose to have it, but better safe than sorry for their first time. She’d never wanted anyone so badly and couldn’t stomach the thought of anything tainting their pleasure.

  He didn’t miss a beat. “No complaints there.” His voice was practically a growl as his lips brushed her ear.

  A wave of relief washed over her, quickly followed by one of heightened arousal as he reclined on his back beside her.

  Thighs trembling as much from anticipation as nervousness, she climbed on top of him, straddling his hips.

  He grasped his cock at the base, meeting her eyes as he guided it so that the tip brushed her clit, then slid below and kissed the lips of her pussy. She was wet – incredibly wet – thanks to what he’d already done for her. The latex-covered tip of his cock slid easily against her damp skin.

  “Ready when you are, baby.”

  His eyes were looking hazy and he had to be aching as badly for her as she was for him, but he’d paused to make sure she was ready anyway. His consideration combined with the gravelly tone of his voice took her by surprise, sending a bolt of sensation up through her core, all the way to her suddenly-watering mouth. Before the sensation could fade away completely, she lowered herself down onto his cock.

  He stretched her from the first inch, widening her channel as she widened her thighs, sinking lower and lower. He aided her by flexing his hips, sending his cock tunneling into her pussy. By the end of the first stroke, she knew the one and only moment of true control she’d experienced had slipped away.

  He rocked her hips as he moved his own, the power of his motion sending a ripple of kinesis throughout her entire body. A moment later, he was buried to the root inside her.

  Just being filled by him felt as good as she’d thought it would when she’d looked at him naked for the first time, the sight of his bare body sending shivers of expectation down her spine. When he moved, causing her body to yield to his harder flesh in a rhythmic give-and-take, it was mind-blowing. For a while, it was all she could do to simply ride out his motions, maintaining balance and letting her body be rocked by his. Each time his hips rose and fell beneath hers, the head of his cock pressed hard against a place that made her want to squirm on top of him.

  She resisted the urge for balance’s sake and channeled her energy into matching his rhythm instead. With increasing confidence, she rolled her hips, succumbing to the pleasure brought on by movement that complimented his, sending him plunging deeper into her channel.

  When he slipped his hand between her thighs, letting his fingers brush her clit, she froze.

  Her hips didn’t seem to want to work anymore. The light pressure of his fingertips against her clit was too electric, too promising to ignore. She let him take sole responsibility for their rhythm, pumping himself harder inside her as he began a massage that complimented his thrusts, leaving her to ride out his motions and the pleasure he was giving her.

  She braced herself with her palms against his shoulders as her spine seemed to weaken. “Don’t stop.” She was so close. So…

  Her pussy shrank around the length of his cock, reminding her just how deep he was buried in her body. She could feel the muscle, bone and sinew of his hips straining against the insides of her thighs as he thrust, tunneling through the tight sheath her body had become until he was balls-deep inside her. And his fingertips – they bit into her clit, blunt and faintly rough. She gasped as pleasure tightened every muscle in her body, wringing sensation from places she’d never even associated with coming.

  He continued to rock her inside and out, his cock and fingers pushing her to a peak that could only be called sheer bliss. Her pussy was stretched taut around his shaft and squeezing back, wracked by contractions that were so strong they almost hurt. Almost.

  She managed to hold her eyes open and focus on his face, watching the way his lips parted as he tipped his head back against the pillow, a groan escaping him. He had to be close too, or… Coming. He was definitely coming. With a hard thrust, he swore, a soft “fuck” that sounded so raw it pushed her orgasm to another mini-peak – not as strong as the first, but enough to make her collapse against his chest.

  He withdrew his hand from between her legs and laid it on her hip instead, gripping her hard as he poured himself into her, each thrust deeper than the last. Her muscles were still tense, an ultra-sensitive sleeve of heat around his shaft and the head of his cock. She gripped him willfully, tightening her pussy around him as he flexed beneath her with a ragged sigh.

  “Ally.” The sound of her name on his lips made her entire body tingle as he slid a hand behind the back of her head, guiding her until their mouths met.

  His hips were still beneath her and his cock was motionless inside her, but there was an edge of passion to his kiss that echoed what they’d just done. He slid his tongue into every inch and hollow of her mouth before withdrawing with a sigh.

  She lifted her eyelids to find him staring back, his eyes surprisingly focused. They were so close that their noses were nearly touching. As they breathed each other’s breath, she noticed for the first time that his irises weren’t just blue. In both eyes, inside all the shades of deep navy, sea blue and icy cyan, there was a ring of orange-gold. They circled the black of his pupils, thin, fiery rings of unexpected color.

  Her focus was broken when he moved, gripping her hips with both hands to support her as he withdrew his cock from her channel.

  A moment later, she was beside him on the bed, breathing a sigh she hadn’t realized she’d been suppressing. Her body felt tired, the energy that normally kept her muscles firm utterly spent. Lying half-sprawled over him, she let her limbs conform to the hard planes of his body as her cheek pressed into the pillow.

  “You look like you’re wearing a halo.”

  “What?” His statement didn’t make any sense to her sex-fogged brain, which was buzzing lazily with satisfaction.

  “Your hair – there are all these little curls sticking up, and th
e light coming in through the window is shining on them. It makes it look like there’s a ring of golden light around your head.”

  She raised a hand, knowing her best effort wouldn’t be good enough to smooth her rebellious hair. Never mind sparring-hair – sex-hair was bound to be worse. In response to the slightest friction or hint of sweat or other moisture, her hair always sprang up into an aura of frizz. And the fact that she’d slept on Ryan’s couch and hadn’t washed or made the slightest effort to style her hair yet couldn’t be helping.

  He caught her hand, trapping her fingers tightly within his. “I like it.”

  A little heat crept into her cheeks as she tried not to think about what her hair must look like. Still, a tiny spark of pleasure lit somewhere in her middle. “Halo” was a nice way to put it. Caving under his blue gaze, she lowered her hand, her fingers slipping from his as they met the comforter. Instead of letting them rest there, she reached out and touched him, tracing the ridges of his abs with her fingertips before letting her hand sweep over his hip, following the hard lines of his body.

  Her fingers hit a bump and a bolt of remembrance shot through her. “What happened here?” The scar tissue was a series of raised ridges and bulges beneath her touch. Maybe if she’d been more medically knowledgeable she would’ve been able to read the pattern of his injury like braille and make a guess at what had caused it. As it was, the irregular scar-scape was unlike any wound she’d ever personally seen or touched.

  Chapter 9

  “Shrapnel,” he said, “from an IED blast.”

  Her curiosity turned sour. “Oh.” She’d heard of those – on TV, mostly. It seemed like she’d learned of people being killed by improvised explosives dozens of times on the news, if not more. “You were deployed to the Middle East?”

  “Afghanistan. Spent about eight months there.”